THAILAND-based Dusit International plans to expand its Dusit Thani and dusitD2 brands to Europe and Australia and within Asia over the next three years.

The hotel chain operates 17 hotels in Thailand and six abroad, and has a further nine in the pipeline—eight across Bahrain, China, India, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and one in Thailand.

Dusit CEO, Chanin Donavanik, said the expansion was part of plans to have an equal number of properties in Thailand and overseas, particularly in Europe — which forms 50 per cent of the group’s clientele.

Chanin expects performance at Dusit’s hotels in Thailand to improve by 10 per cent this year. Dusit properties in Phuket and Pattaya have been recording 80 to 90 per cent occupancy so far, though properties in Bangkok and Hua Hin have managed just above 60 per cent.

Occupancy rates are expected to drop during the low season, and tacticals will then be needed to draw bookings, Chanin added.

Meanwhile, Dusit launched its new US$335,000 website yesterday, in a bid to increase online bookings to 25 per cent of total business this year from 10 per cent in 2010.

CENTRAL Java is knocking on its neighbours’ doors to grab a share of burgeoning intra-ASEAN travel, especially from Singapore and Malaysia.

Led by Central Java governor Bibit Waluyo, a delegation held a roadshow in Singapore last weekend, meeting with the local travel trade and businessmen to promote tourism and investment in the destination.

A campaign was also launched with promotional livery to be displayed on SMART taxis to increase awareness of Central Java among Singaporeans. The campaign will run for at least a year.

Familiarisation trips for Singapore agents and media will be organised in the future.

The roadshow marks the first regional tourism efforts of the Central Java provincial government outside of travel marts and fairs.

A series of programmes is also being planned for Malaysia.

Central Java Tourism Promotion Board chairman Andhy Irawan said: “Singapore and Malaysia are more feasible to tap compared to other ASEAN countries and beyond, as accessibility is one of the issues Central Java is facing.”

Batavia Airlines flies direct between Singapore and Semarang thrice a week. The carrier plans to eventually launch a Semarang-Kuala Lumpur service.

THE DESIGN ARCHITECT of Marina Bay Sands (MBS) Singapore, Moshe Safdie, has warned Asian destinations against using eye-popping architecture to draw attention, a phenomenon dubbed ‘starchitecture’ or ‘The Bilbao Effect’ after the Guggenheim Museum designed by Frank Gehry catapulted the Basque region in Spain as a must-visit destination.

Interviewed by TTG Asia e-Daily ahead of the official opening of MBS and its lotus flower-inspired ArtScience Museum tomorrow, Safdie warned: “If architecture is treated purely as a spectacular sculpture, we’re in for trouble, no question about it.”

He said it was not enough for architecture to be sensational; it had to be uplifting, making people feel better about themselves and improving the quality of life in the city.

“What is definitely true about Asia – true of China, the Emirates and so on – is, architecture is seen as an opportunity. Now opportunity for what – if it’s the mayor of a city, it’s an opportunity to put the city on the map. So they want a 100-storey, 200-storey tower buildings that are going to draw attention. If you talk to a commercial entity, they want an architecture that is good for business…The more architecture is being treated as a tool towards certain end, the more the question becomes urgent,” he said.

But he added it was “inevitable” for fast-growing economies such as China to make mistakes in the urbanisation process. However, he noted a “reawakening” in China to ecological issues.

SafdieArchitects is masterminding a high-density residential development in Qinhuangdao, China.

– Read the full interview in From the Top with Moshe Safdie, TTG Asia, March 11 issue

ASIAN Overland Tourism and Hospitality Group is making further inroads into the wellness segment, with the opening of its first Anti-Oxidant Centre outside of Malaysia last week and three more overseas outlets planned for Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India.

Anti-Oxidant Centre opened in Singapore on February 8 with five therapy rooms providing antioxidant sauna treatments using far-infrared rays.

The new flagship store will help to market the company’s antioxidant products and antioxidant sauna treatment services globally, said group managing director Anthony Wong.

The group’s target is for outlets to open in Jakarta, Colombo and Kerala by end-February, the second half of this year and early 2011 respectively.

There are already two centres in Malaysia, and further local expansion this year will be through franchising, said Wong.

KHIRI Asia has opened an office in downtown Bangkok to service rising demand from Asian visitors, especially the Indian market, to Thailand and Indochina, bringing the number of its offices across the region to nine.

The new Bangkok office, located in the Charn Issara II Tower in Petburi Road beside Thonglor, has three full-time staff, two of Indian origin. “We now have a completely separate unit closer to our customers in Bangkok,” said Ashok Kapur, CEO of Khiri Asia.

According to PATA head office statistics, 790,000 Indians visited Thailand last year, an increase of 29 per cent over 2009. Since 2006, Thailand has averaged an annual increase from India of 14.5 per cent.

Khiri Travel Group co-founder Willem Niemeijer said Thailand could boost demand from India further with a few minor service adjustments. “I’d like to see a little bit more flexibility from hotels in food catering for Indian guests.”

Cambodia received about 13,500 Indians and Laos around 3,000 or so in 2010, though the increase in Indian traffic to both destinations has averaged about 10 to 11 per cent over the last five years.

Niemeijer said Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam needed to create awareness campaigns in India to really lift numbers.

AIRLINES are expected to make a much smaller profit this year over last year, as a result of huge capacity increase and higher jet fuel price.

International Air Transport Association (IATA) is forecasting a global airline profit of US$9.1 billion this year, after the industry is slated to end last year with US$15.1 billion in profit. As it is, the US$9.1 billion forecast is based on last year’s jet fuel price averaging an estimated US$79 per barrel. IATA expects this year’s jet fuel price to average US$84 per barrel.

IATA director-general and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said just a dollar increase per barrel of oil would result in US$1.6 billion in additional cost for airlines.

Fuel accounts for 27 per cent of the total operating costs of airlines. Even though airlines impose fuel surcharges, those only covered up to 30 per cent of oil cost, with the heavy burden continuing to rest with the airlines, according to IATA spokesperson Anthony Concil.

Capacity, meanwhile, is expected to grow seven per cent this year, with 1,400 new aircraft delivered.

Of the anticipated US$9.1 billion profit, Asian airlines are expected to make US$4.6 billion, North American US$3.2 billion, Latin America US$700 million, the Middle East US$400 million and European a paltry US$100 million.

“Europe is the sick region of the aviation market,” said Bisignani.

Asia is the star, now and the future. “By 2014, one billion people will travel by air in Asia-Pacific. That’s 30 per cent of the global total and a four percentage point increase from the 26 per cent it represented in 2009,” he said during a media briefing yesterday.

– See also Tourism Data

MYANMAR will grant visa-on-arrival (VOA) for foreign visitors arriving in Yangon on Myanmar Airways International’s (MAI) direct flight from Siem Reap.

Myanmar Marketing Committee vice chairman Phyoe Wai Yar Zar told TTG Asia e-Daily that the scheme would take effect from February 23, the launch date of MAI’s twice-weekly service between Yangon and Siem Reap.

The direct service links two of ASEAN’s most veritable heritage sites, Bagan in Myanmar and Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and is spurring tourism cooperation between the two countries (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 18).

MAI CEO, Aung Gyi, said the mandate letter was approved two days ago by the Cabinet, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs was currently working with immigration to implement the policy.

According to Phyoe, passengers will receive their VOA through the same system introduced between May 1 and August 31 last year for foreign visitors at Yangon and Mandalay International Airports.

By Sirima Eamtako

BANYAN Tree Hotels & Resorts is taking over the operations of the Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket, rebranding it as an Angsana Laguna Phuket when its current management contract with Starwood Hotels & Resorts expires on June 30.

The hotel will be closed from July 1 for a US$30 million renovation and refurbishment covering all rooms, meeting facilities and public spaces. It is scheduled to open by December as the largest resort under the Angsana brand with 384 keys. It would set the benchmark for 15 more Angsanas in the pipeline worldwide.

Laguna Resorts Holdings managing director Michael Ayling said Angsana was chosen to “draw a new segment of younger affluent travellers” that is currently not targeted by the existing hotels and resorts in the integrated resort.

The hotel will offer a destination beach club and introduce new concepts such as a tree house-inspired Kids’ Club and a Rice Bar featuring classic rice-based Asian favourites. Other facilities include an Angsana Spa, an Angsana retail gallery and a 358m² ballroom.